-a food blog by K.P. Wee, author of "The 1988 Dodgers: Reliving the Championship Season," "John Cangelosi: The Improbable Baseball Journey of the Undersized Kid from Nowhere to World Series Champion," and "Tom Candiotti: A Life of Knuckleballs"

Korea Trip 2018: Street Food (Ssamzigil area, Seoul)

During my second day in Korea – on what was a fairly warm day in Seoul – I checked out what appeared to be a tourist part of the city, near the Ssamzigil area along Insadong Street.

I came to this little stand run by an elderly couple and was intrigued by the pictures showing the different chalbas that he was serving. I decided to get the Hot & Spicy Chicken Chalba, which cost 3,000 won each.

What’s a chalba? Well, according to the English words, it’s a Korean burrito.

Well, it was really spicy – and greasy. Unfortunately, there didn’t seem to be any napkins – and there was no garbage can around! (I had to walk several blocks along Insadong Street before finding one.) But really greasy…

I also tried the chicken skewer stand further down Insadong Street. It was 2,000 won per stick, and the options were – according to the displayed sign – spicy, regular, not spicy, barbecue, and salt & pepper. I picked the regular and found it to be spicy! I guess that explained the difference between “regular” and “not spicy”… or maybe the English words on the sign were not the proper translations.

Once again, very sticky and messy like the chalba… and also the guy who ran the stand gave very tiny pieces of napkin.

Obviously, there were other things to try too on Insadong, but on this afternoon these were the only two things that I had.

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About “Let’s Eat Out Every Other Week”

KP Wee, the writer of this food blog, is a published author from Vancouver, Canada. He has written several books, including "Tom Candiotti: A Life of Knuckleballs" and "Fess Up, Jessup!" Check out KP's other food blog at letseatoutonceaweek.wordpress.com. He can be contacted at: kp.wee.is@gmail.com

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